Tornado's destruction can bring out the best in us

May 22, 2013

An aerial view shows the destruction in Campbell County the morning after a tornado passed through last March. Several tornadoes hit part of Indiana, Northern Kentucky and Southwest Ohio the evening of March 2, 2012. / The Enquirer/Gary Landers

Written by

Amanda Van Benschoton

Avoid scammers

Want to help? Here are some tips from Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway to avoid scammers: • Donate to a reputable relief agency like the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army or relief efforts organized through your place of worship. • If donating online, make sure you’re giving to a charity that actually exists. Use a service like charitynavigator.org or www.BBB.org/charity to check the group out before giving. Also make sure the website is secure and will protect your credit card number. • Never give cash. Pay by check, and write the charity or fundraiser’s full name out. It’s best to mail your check directly to the charity. Never give your credit card number out to a fundraiser over the phone.

More

ADVERTISEMENT

When we hear of a tragedy like the tornado that struck the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, the natural reaction is to think, “Could that happen here?”

Fifteen months ago, it did.

The afternoon of Friday, March 2, 2012, strong spring storms swept through the region – including a deadly EF4 tornado that blazed a 10-mile path of destruction through southern Kenton and Campbell counties and northern Pendleton County. Four people died. Dozens more were injured. And hundreds lost everything that they had.

Compared with what happened outside Oklahoma City, however, we were lucky. The EF5 tornado that swept through that city’s suburbs Monday afternoon was on the ground for about 40 minutes, destroying everything in its path for 22 miles, including an elementary school and a hospital. At least two dozen people died, including nine children, and more than 200 were injured.

Those who lived through last year’s tornado and its aftermath know all too well the struggles the Oklahoma survivors are facing – and what lies ahead in the coming days and weeks.

“My heart has broken, watching all the pictures on the news,” said Amy Heeger of Piner.

“For years we’ve watched our country being ripped apart by tornadoes – it’s nothing new – but when it hits in your backyard, you have a new appreciation and a soft spot for those who are dealing with what they’re dealing with right now. If I could fly out there and do something to help, I definitely would.”

Heeger’s home and her family were spared in last year’s tornado, but many of her friends and neighbors weren’t so lucky. She helped organize relief efforts at Piner Baptist Church, which became a home base for those who had lost their own in the hard-hit rural community.

What Heeger remembers from those first days is not the devastation that faced her community, but the generosity that poured into it from across the region and the country.

Within 48 hours, the church’s sanctuary was so full of donations that “we had our own Wal-Mart in Piner,” she joked.

(Page 2 of 2)

“People from all over the county, all over the Tristate, were calling and asking what they could do. By Sunday, we had pretty much filled our sanctuary full of so many items that we were turning people away to other churches. It was unbelievable,” Heeger said. “They wouldn’t come by one, they would come by dozens. We had enough water, I think, to float the church.”

Volunteers showed up on the church’s steps from across the region and even across the nation. They distributed donations and worked to feed survivors and relief workers, an endeavor Heeger said at times resembled the fishes and loaves story from the Bible.

“Every time you thought you were running out, another pizza would come through the door. And it was all donated: For the first 10 days, we had food coming from everywhere,” she said.

Heeger said those kinds of donations – along with shovels, rakes and facemasks to aid in cleanup – were most useful in helping Piner rebuild in the tornado’s aftermath.

It’s a difficult process, but one that was made easier by the generosity of friends and strangers alike.

“Personally, for me, it renewed my faith in people,” Heeger said.

She has faith that the same spirit of generosity will lift up the battered communities in Oklahoma. ■